Chapter 4 - The Proof
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Rafe stared at her, the shadows of the balcony emphasizing the sharp, dangerous angles of his face. He didn't blink. He didn't raise his voice.
“How do you know this?”
“I was cleaning your study,” Nell confessed, her voice trembling. “They came in. I hid under your desk.”
“You were eavesdropping on a private conversation in my locked study.”
“I was trying to stay alive!” Nell shot back, frustration piercing through her fear. “They’re going to kill you, Mr. Santoro! You have to call the police!”
Rafe let out a dark, humorless laugh. “The police work for my uncle, Nell. If I call them, I’ll be inviting my own executioners to the harbor.”
He pulled a sleek, encrypted phone from his jacket pocket and dialed a number.
“Ezra,” Rafe said quietly. “Evacuate the southern warehouse. Yes, right now. Leave the trucks. Tell the men to fall back to the secondary perimeter.”
He hung up the phone and looked back at her.
“Why did you warn me?” Rafe asked, stepping closer. The intensity in his eyes made her breath catch. “Teddy Vain assaulted you. You have every reason to hate the men in this house. Letting me die would have solved many of your problems.”
“I don't want anyone to die,” Nell whispered, clutching the silver pendant at her throat. “And you stopped him. You protected me. I pay my debts.”
Rafe’s gaze dropped to the silver locket resting against her collarbone. For a fraction of a second, something akin to recognition flashed in his eyes.
“You shouldn't have involved yourself, Miss Whitaker,” Rafe murmured, the use of her real surname sending a jolt of terror through her veins.
“You knew,” she breathed.
May you like
“I knew your father,” Rafe corrected softly. “And I know that keeping you in this house is the most dangerous decision I have ever made.”
Before he could explain, a massive explosion echoed in the distance, shaking the glass of the balcony doors. A pillar of black smoke began to rise over the harbor.
